Radetzky March (McAlister)

Johann Strauss (father) composed the Radetzky March, Op. 228, in 1848, that revolutionary year which threw Europe into turmoil. The work was written as a tribute to Field Marshal Joseph Wenzel Count Radetzky von Radetz, who had achieved military successes in northern Italy in the service of the Austrian imperial house. The march stands as a prime example of Viennese light music from the Biedermeier and early Vormärz periods – music that combined social elegance with popular accessibility.

In purely musical terms, the work captivates through its irresistible directness: rousing rhythms, incisive wind themes, and a vivid interplay between full orchestral sound and solo passages. The large orchestral forces lend the march its festive, ceremonial weight, while never sacrificing the characteristic lightness of the Viennese style.

The Radetzky March is considered one of the best-known and most frequently performed orchestral pieces in the world, and it is inextricably linked with the tradition of the Vienna New Year's Concert, where audiences are said to have begun enthusiastically clapping along to the march – a tradition that lives on to this day.